System and method for broadcasting advertisements

ABSTRACT

A broadcast system provides consumers with inducement to consume portions in which they may not have an active interest, such as commercials. To dissuade consumers from leaving the vicinity of the broadcast receiver or from switching to other broadcasts while a first broadcast airs such a portion, the first broadcast is augmented by a second content entity calculated to be of interest to the consumer. Interaction is required of the consumer in order for him to receive the second content entity, which necessitates his presence and attention.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent Ser. No.09/752,127, filed on Dec. 29, 2000, from which priority is claimed under35 U.S.C. §120. The aforesaid patent application is incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to program and/or content transmission,and particularly to inducing a consumer of program and/or contenttransmission to continue to receive and consume program and/or contenttransmission during portions thereof in which he is not activelyinterested and which he is inclined to ignore.

2. Description of the Related Art

Broadcast industries, such as radio broadcasting and televisionbroadcasting, derive a substantial portion of their income from chargingadvertisers for interspersing commercial messages (“commercials”), alsoknown as advertisements (“ads”), into the substantive content of thebroadcasts. Such advertising revenue not only provides profit for thebroadcasters, but typically provides funds for operating expenses. Muchbroadcasting would have to be discontinued without advertising revenue.

The viewer of a television program or the listener to a radio program(hereinafter referred to as the user or consumer of programming)typically is not actively interested in the commercial, and may evenperceive the commercial as an intrusion or annoyance. The user may leavethe room, in which case he is still receiving, but is no longerconsuming, the program. Or the user may switch to another program whilethe commercial is being broadcast. Modern consumer electronics devicesare typically equipped with remote controls which make it a simplematter to switch to another program or “channel surf” through aplurality of other programs, and to switch back to the original programwhen it is adjudged that the commercials should be over. Some consumerelectronics devices facilitate recording a program for delayed playback,often with the commercials “cut”. Even if the commercials are not cut,the consumer may be inclined to “fast forward” over them. Such behaviorreduces the size of the audience for commercials, which in turneventually lowers the amount that the advertisers are willing to pay thebroadcasters for airing them. In effect, such behavior threatens theeconomic basis of commercial broadcasting.

There is thus a need to provide an incentive or inducement to theconsumer to continue to consume the programming even when thesubstantive content is interrupted for the presentation of commercialmessages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, the present invention providesprogram material and/or content that contains along with the signalconveying the commercial message another signal conveying something ofinterest or immediate benefit to the user, thus inducing the user tocontinue receiving and consuming the program material including thecommercial message. The user is required to provide an interactiveresponse in order to receive the additional signal. He is thus inducedto continue to consume the programming and/or content, including thecommercial message. In an aspect of the invention, the two signals aretransmitted via two different transmission media. In another aspect ofthe invention, the additional signal is sent in advance of thecommercial message and is stored in the receiving equipment until thecommercial is broadcast.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that thedrawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as adefinition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should bemade to the appended claims. It should be further understood that thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwiseindicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate thestructures and procedures described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote similarelements:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a prior-art broadcasting systemin which the present invention may be practiced;

FIG. 2 is a high level block diagram of prior-art consumer equipment 400shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a broadcasting system according to oneembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a broadcasting system according to anotherembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichis shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modificationsmay be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a prior art broadcast system inwhich the present invention may be practiced. A plurality ofbroadcasters 100 are providing a plurality of signals 200 totransmission medium 300. Each broadcaster is assigned a channel.Transmission medium 300 includes wired and wireless links, includingwithout limitation radio-frequency links, cable networks, the Internet,satellite facilities, and telephone networks. Transmission may be indigital or analog form. In a digital television system, several virtualchannels can be on the same MPEG transport stream, appearing as separatepackages. A plurality of consumers, each equipped with consumerequipment 400, may each selectively receive any of signals 200 fromtransmission medium 300 by selecting the corresponding channel. In apresent example, broadcasters 100 are television broadcasters andconsumer equipment 400 are television receiving equipment. Consuming abroadcast in this example comprises viewing a video portion andlistening to an associated audio portion. It is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to television broadcasting but may also bepracticed in other types of transmission systems, such as streamingvideo broadcast over the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary known consumerequipment 400. A set-top box (STB) 410 is connected to transmissionmedium 300 and may select any channel therefrom for presentation ontelevision receiver or monitor 420. It is to be understood that the term“set-top box” (also known as an integrated receiver decoder or IRD) is aterm of art generally denoting a unit for front-ending a receivingmonitor or television set, and is not necessarily constrained to beinghoused in a separate box nor to being located literally on top ofmonitor 420. In some embodiments, STB 410 is Internet enabled, and thusincludes a modem 412 and an Internet browser 414, which are used whenthe Internet is used as transmission medium 300. Remote control (RC) 430is typically provided for controlling STB 410 and monitor 420 from theconsumer's location, typically a convenient seating location in the sameroom. RC 430 typically facilitates such functions as channel selection,adjusting audio volume, and the like, and is equipped with a complementof pushbuttons.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3illustrates a scenario in which the present invention is beingpracticed. A particular one of consumer equipment 400, denominated400-m, is receiving the signal from a particular one of broadcasters100, denominated broadcaster 100-n, by virtue of selecting channel n.

Signal 200-n from broadcaster 100-n may include material in which theconsumer is not actively interested, such as commercials. At theinception of a commercial, the consumer may be inclined to leave theconsumer equipment 400-m for a time, or to select some other channel,thus directing reception of some other signal 200 from some otherbroadcaster 100. Yet the broadcaster 100-n has a keen economic interestin dissemination of the commercials to as many consumers as possible.According to the invention, additional content is provided to theconsumer which may engage his interest, presented in such a manner as torequire interaction from the consumer which thus necessitates hiscontinued reception of the signal 200-n and his continued consumption ofit, including the commercial. According to the invention, the signal onchannel n comprises a second portion. Signal 200-n contains the normalprogramming from broadcaster 100-n, including commercials. Signal 200-nis received and handled by all consumer equipment 400 which haveselected channel n, including those which are not practicing theinvention. Also transmitted on channel n is signal 200A-n.

In one aspect of the invention, signal 200A-n is not transmittedconstantly, but only in conjunction with commercials on signal 200-n. Inan aspect of the invention, signal 200A-n is transmitted in advance of acommercial on signal 200-n and stored in consumer equipment 400-m foruse when the commercial is transmitted on signal 200-n. In analternative embodiment, signal 200A-n is transmitted on another channel(not illustrated) from broadcaster 100-n to consumer equipment 400-m.The other channel may be the Internet if STB 410 is Internet enabled.Signal 200A-n contains additional content determined by broadcaster100-n to be of greater interest to the consumer than the commercial is.Signal 200A-n may also contain instructions to be interpreted by STB410-m for accepting interaction from the consumer. If the consumersupplies a predetermined interaction, the content in signal 200A-n ishandled in a manner that provides some benefit to the user. In oneaspect of the invention, the content in signal 200A-n is an audio signal(compressed, e.g. in MP3 format) containing an entertainment entity suchas a popular song; the consumer may be presented with a video or audioprompt such as, for example: “Press 1 to record latest Elton John song”;STB 410-m, upon recognizing that the consumer has pressed the “1” buttonon RC 430-m, directs recording of the audio signal for later access bythe consumer.

A consumer who has left the room or selected another channel at theinception of the commercial in signal 200-n forfeits the ability toreceive the free recording of the song in signal 200A-n. While recordingis taking place, the commercial in signal 200 is still being received.In an aspect of the invention, recording ceases if the consumerendeavors to lower the audio portion of the commercial in signal 200. Inanother aspect of the invention, the consumer is prompted to interactperiodically (e.g., every 20 seconds) during recording, and recordingceases if the consumer fails to do so, as would occur if he has left theroom. The repeated interactions could be presented in the guise of agame in order to ease their perceived intrusiveness. Through theseinteractions the consumer is induced to continue consumption of theprogramming and/or content in signal 200, including the commercial whichhe might otherwise have elected to shun.

In a consumer equipment 400 for practicing the invention, STB 410 isprovided with capabilities greater than those required for consumingonly a signal 200 as in the prior art. STB 410-m includes logic forinterpreting interaction instructions provided in conjunction withsignal 200A and for ascertaining that the consumer has interacted in theprescribed manner. STB 410-m includes storage means for recordingcontent of signal 200A. In the embodiment pictured in FIG. 3 this is adisk drive 440-m. In alternative embodiments, the recording means mayinclude, without limitation, semiconductor memory devices and othermagnetic-medium recording devices such as tape devices. The contentportion of a signal 200A is not constrained to being a musicalselection, nor any form of entertainment entity, but might also be,without limitation, a video signal, a non-musical audio signal, or anyform of textual or graphic information conveyed in a datastream, such asa computer program, a computer game, or an e-book or portion thereof.The content portion of signal 200A may be recorded for later use, or mayhave some immediate effect such as being displayed on monitor 420,superimposed on the content of signal 200, for example as“picture-in-picture”.

In another aspect of the invention, signal 200A-n contains only aportion of a content entity. A succession of such portions are providedin signals 200A-n in conjunction with a series of commercials in signal200-n. A consumer is thus induced to consume all the commercials in aseries of commercials, which may be separated over the span of severaldays or even several weeks, in order to obtain all the associatedportions of a content entity. STB 410-m is equipped with logic toassemble the portions into the complete content entity. The inventionthus provides the ability to assemble long, and therefore valuable,reward entities for the user. This enhances the ability of thebroadcaster to induce the customer to view commercials.

In still another aspect of the invention, the content in signal 200A isarranged to cause the consumer to view or hear gaming components and/orinstructions, superimposed on the video or audio of signal 200. Such agame could be a simple graphic game on the order of tic-tac-toe, or aseries of clues that lead the consumer in some way to progress through aseries of steps, perhaps toward the goal of increasing the consumer'schances of winning a contest, and the like.

Signal from a channel on transmission medium 300 recorded by the userfor later playback on a recording device such as a video cassetterecorder (VCR, not shown) includes signal 200A-n. The inducementsprovided according to the present invention may apply whether a consumerreceives programs “off the air” or in a delayed manner via his VCR. Heis thus induced not to set his VCR to cut the commercials and not tofast forward over them.

Another embodiment of the invention is depicted in FIG. 4. Thisembodiment is best suited to be practiced in environments wheretransmission medium 300 comprises digital links, such as used inconjunction with General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), the UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), the Advanced TelevisionEnhancement Forum (ATVEF), or the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP). FIG. 4exemplarily illustrates a particular one of user equipment 400,designated 400-j, receiving signal from a particular one of broadcasters100, designated 100-i. Such an environment typically provides two-waycommunication, in which a user equipment 400-j not only receives signalfrom a broadcaster 100-i over channel i, but may also send signals 500-jback to broadcaster 100-i over channel j. This is best suited to anenvironment where channel j is not necessarily a dedicated frequencychannel, but rather is a virtual channel created by virtue of routingdigital data over a digital network from consumer equipment 400-j tobroadcaster 100-i. In this embodiment, signal 200A-i is sent separatelyfrom signal 200-i, after STB 410-j (not shown in FIG. 4) determines thatthe consumer has responded appropriately to the prescribed interactionsand signaled broadcaster 100-i accordingly with signal 500-j. In anaspect of the invention signal 200A-i is sent over a separate channel(channel ii, again a virtual channel according to the routing of digitalpackets collectively containing the content of signal 200A-i). Inanother aspect of the invention, signal 200A-i is sent on channel ialong with signal 200-i, after receiving request 500-j.

In another aspect of the invention, signal 200A-n (FIG. 3) or signal200A-i (FIG. 4) is transmitted at any time that it is convenient to doso, perhaps in advance of the associated commercial. Transparently tothe consumer, it is received and stored by STB 410, and takes effectwhen broadcaster 100 sends an activation code (as part of signal 200A).This aspect is well suited to be practiced in conjunction with an ATVEFbroadcasting environment. Under this aspect, no signal need betransmitted back to broadcaster 100-i; the user's interaction signalfrom RC 430 need only go as far as STB 410 to invoke the stored content200A.

In another aspect of the invention, suited to be practiced whentransmission medium 300 comprises GPRS or UMTS, user equipment 400further includes a handset 440. In this aspect, signal 200A-i may bereceived and processed by handset 440.

Typically, a string of several commercials is broadcast during a“commercial break” in a program. If the consumer is informed that one ofthem will contain the inducement according to the present invention, butif he is not informed which one, he is induced to consume all thecommercials in the string, or at least all the ones up to the pointwhere he avails himself of the inducement.

Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed outfundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the devicesillustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, itis expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/ormethod steps which perform substantially the same function insubstantially the same way to achieve the same results are within thescope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized thatstructures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described inconnection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may beincorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form orembodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention,therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

1. A method for broadcasting a service, comprising the steps of:transmitting a first information stream comprising first consumablecontent for consumption by a user; and transmitting a second informationstream comprising a first portion for interaction with a user and asecond portion comprising second consumable content for consumption bythe user conditionally according to a response of the user to the firstportion.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information streamfurther comprises commercial content.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe user must substantially consume the commercial content in the firstinformation stream in order to receive the second consumable content inthe second information stream.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst portion of the second information stream is presented during theuser's consumption of the first information stream.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein both the first information stream and the secondinformation stream are transmitted via the same broadcasting service. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the first information stream and thesecond information stream are transmitted via different transmissionmedia.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first information stream istransmitted via a broadcasting network and the second information streamis transmitted via a wireless telecommunication network.
 8. The methodof claim 2, wherein the second information stream is transmitted withthe commercial content.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondinformation stream is transmitted with the first consumable content. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the second information stream istransmitted in advance of at least one of the first consumable contentand commercial content.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprisingthe step of: storing the second information stream for later use. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein the second consumable content is storedwhen the commercial content is consumed.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the second consumable content is presented when the commercialcontent is consumed.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: storing both the first information stream with the secondinformation stream; and presenting both the stored first informationstream with the stored second information stream.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of: transmitting the user'sresponse back to a service provider via a third information stream. 16.The method of claim 15, wherein the step of transmitting the secondportion is performed after the service provider has received the user'sresponse.
 17. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of:prompting, by the first portion of the second information stream, theuser to consume the commercial content in the first information streamin order to be presented with the second consumable content of thesecond information stream.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe step of: prompting, by the first portion of the second informationstream, the user to respond to the prompt in order to be presented withthe second consumable content of the second information stream.
 19. Apropagated signal comprising: a first information stream comprisingfirst consumable content for consumption by a user; and a secondinformation stream comprising a first portion for interaction with auser and a second portion comprising second consumable content forconsumption by the user conditionally according to a response by theuser to the first portion.
 20. The propagated signal of claim 19,wherein the first information stream further comprises commercialcontent.
 21. The propagated signal of claim 20, wherein the user mustsubstantially consume the commercial content in the first informationstream in order to receive the second consumable content in the secondinformation stream.
 22. The propagated signal of claim 19, wherein thefirst portion of the second information stream is presented during theuser's consumption of the first information stream.
 23. The propagatedsignal of claim 19, wherein the first information stream and the secondinformation stream are transmitted via one of same or differenttransmission media.
 24. The propagated signal of claim 20, wherein thesecond information stream is transmitted with at least one of thecommercial content and the first consumable content.
 25. A broadcastingsystem comprising: a first transmitter for transmitting a firstinformation stream comprising first consumable content for consumptionby a user; a second transmitter for transmitting a second informationstream comprising a first portion for interaction with a user and asecond portion comprising second consumable content for consumption bythe user; and consumer equipment comprising: a first receiver forreceiving the first information stream; a second receiver for receivingthe second information stream; and a display for presenting the firstinformation stream and the first portion of the second informationstream to the user, wherein the presentation of the second consumablecontent to the user depends upon the user's response to the firstportion.
 26. The broadcasting system of claim 25, wherein the firstinformation stream further comprises commercial content.
 27. Thebroadcasting system of claim 26, wherein the user must substantiallyconsume the commercial content in the first information stream in orderto receive the second consumable content in the second informationstream.
 28. The broadcasting system of claim 25, wherein the firstportion of the second information stream is presented during the user'sconsumption of the first information stream.
 29. The broadcasting systemof claim 25, wherein the first information stream and the secondinformation stream are transmitted via one of same or differenttransmission media.
 30. The broadcasting system of claim 25, wherein asingle transmitter comprises both the first and second transmitter. 31.The broadcasting system of claim 25, wherein a single receiver comprisesboth the first and second receiver.
 32. A service provider systemcomprising: a first transmitter for transmitting a first informationstream comprising first consumable content for consumption by a user;and a second transmitter for transmitting a second information streamcomprising a first portion for interaction with a user and a secondportion comprising second consumable content for consumption by theuser; wherein the presentation of the second consumable content to theuser is conditioned upon the users response to the first portion. 33.The service provider system of claim 32, wherein the first informationstream further comprises commercial content.
 34. The service providersystem of claim 33, wherein the user must substantially consume thecommercial content in the first information stream in order to receivethe second consumable content in the second information stream.
 35. Theservice provider system of claim 32, wherein the first portion of thesecond information stream is presented during the user's consumption ofthe first information stream.
 36. The service provider system of claim32, wherein the first information stream and the second informationstream are transmitted via one of same or different transmission media.37. The service provider system of claim 33, wherein the secondinformation stream is transmitted with at least one of the commercialcontent and the first consumable content.
 38. The service providersystem of claim 33, wherein a single transmitter comprises both thefirst and second transmitter.
 39. A consumer equipment system forreceiving service, comprising: a first receiver for receiving a firstinformation stream comprising first consumable content for consumptionby a user; a second receiver for receiving a second information streamcomprising a first portion for interaction with a user and a secondportion comprising second consumable content for consumption by theuser; and a display for presenting the first information stream and thefirst portion of the second information system to the user; wherein thepresentation of the second consumable content to the user is conditionedupon the user's response to the first portion.
 40. The consumerequipment system of claim 39, wherein the first information streamfurther comprises commercial content.
 41. The consumer equipment systemof claim 40, wherein the user must substantially consume the commercialcontent in the first information stream in order to receive the secondconsumable content in the second information stream.
 42. The consumerequipment system of claim 39, wherein the first portion of the secondinformation stream is presented during the user's consumption of thefirst information stream.
 43. The consumer equipment system of claim 39,wherein the first information stream and the second information streamare transmitted via one of same or different transmission media.
 44. Theconsumer equipment system of claim 40, wherein the second informationstream is transmitted with at least one of the commercial content andthe first consumable content.
 45. The consumer equipment system of claim39, wherein a single receiver comprises both the first and secondreceiver.
 46. The consumer equipment system of claim 39, wherein aset-top box comprises the consumer equipment system.
 47. The consumerequipment system of claim 39, wherein a portable handset comprises theconsumer equipment system.
 48. The consumer equipment system of claim47, wherein the first receiver is broadcast receiver and the secondreceiver is a wireless telecom receiver.